1. Field of Technology
The present application discloses video analysis technology (described in part in U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,998 (the “'998 patent”), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) that can analyze video streams and identify content of interest based on the characteristics and motions of people and objects in the video streams.
2. Background of the Invention
Traditional security and monitoring systems rely on various sensors to trigger an alarm condition. Because such sensors are relatively undiscerning, such systems will always suffer from false alarms. An alarm can be triggered by an authorized or benign cause, such as a motion detector being triggered by a pet or a window or door contact getting dirty. False alarms lead to frustration and wasted resources.
Although surveillance and security systems can employ motion detectors, the effective range of the motion detectors is relatively limited. This can be impractical, obtrusive or otherwise undesirable. Motion detectors with extremely high sensitivity can be used to detect motions at higher ranges; however, such detectors will be plagued by false alarms from relatively minor and benign motion at a closer range. What is needed, then, is a security system that can verify alarm conditions before alerting a user.
Current security systems send an alarm message to a central monitoring station. This alarm cannot be visually verified, and the typical response is via audio or phone communication to the alarming facility to speak with a person who can confirm or deny the alarm. This is time-consuming and burdensome, especially if the alarm is false, which is the case for a majority of alarms.
Video cameras on the monitored premise can be used for verification; however the intruder or alerting condition may have left the scene or ceased motion by the time an operator in a central monitoring station has the opportunity to view the video feed corresponding to the sensor that caused the alarm. Even if the video can be made available at the central monitoring station in time to display a significant event in progress, it is physically impractical and costly for the security service provider to deploy sufficient manpower to manually view and assess all of the alarming video streams without a way of triaging the information. An automated verification technique that lets personnel at the central station receive verified video contemporaneously with the alarm is therefore desirable. Furthermore, verified video can be used by the end-customer and other security and law enforcement personnel to proactively respond to alarm conditions.